Airtel Africa on Tuesday got listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in a 1.36 trillion naira ($4.4 bln) flotation. Soon after the telecoms company’s share float went live, the shares climbed 10 percent from their listing price of 363 naira, reported Reuters. Some 100,000 shares traded on the debut day, helping the main stock index recover from a seven-week low.
Notably, the secondary listing of Airtel Africa was initially set for July 5 but was postponed to allow the telecoms firm to meet its listing requirements. The company offered shares in its African unit two weeks ago via a London IPO and said it would dual list in Nigeria, its biggest market in Africa.
Airtel Africa’s main rival, South Africa’s MTN, also listed its Nigerian unit in Lagos in May this year in a $6.5 billion float that made it the second-largest stock on the bourse by market value. It also becomes the second company to list in London and Lagos following an IPO by oil firm Seplat.
According to the latest data from the Nigerian Communications Commission, Airtel’s biggest African market is Nigeria where it held 26.3 percent of market share in May of this year. It slightly trails behind Globacom, which holds 26.8 percent of Nigerian market share and well behind South Africa’s MTN, which holds 37.4 percent of the market share.
Some of Airtel Africa’s existing shareholders are Japan’s SoftBank, Singtel, Singapore’s Temasek, and US investment firm Warburg Pincus.
The Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, has said Airtel shares registered in Britain may be moved from the London market to Nigeria subject to approval by the custodians in London and foreign exchange rules in Nigeria. But Airtel shares registered in Nigeria cannot be moved to London.
Mr. Oscar Onyema, Chief Executive Officer, NSE, commended Airtel Africa for listing on the Exchange.
